 |
| Bumper cars have never been so 80s like they are in this 80s montage. |
Homer comes across an old 80s sitcom on TV called "Thicker Than Water", a typical family values comedy at the time. Homer really comes to enjoy it, though, and wants to emulate the father from that program. Around the same time, Bart's bike falls apart, and he wants to get not just any new bike, but the "Street Assassin", a top-notch motorbike. Bart tries to ask Homer for it, but Homer applies his newfound fathering tips by telling Bart he won't appreciate stuff Homer buys for him, and to earn to money for the bike himself, advice that confuses Bart as usually Homer doesn't bother. Lisa advises Bart to get a good grade instead so that Homer will reward him with either the bike or the money for the bike. Bart tries to confirm this with Homer, and Homer does agree that good academics should be rewarded. Bart studies his ass off for the next time and through his hard work he is able to earn an A on it. Bart shows it to Homer, but Homer reveals that the sense of accomplishment is Bart's real reward for the A. Angered, Bart storms off.
A short time later, Apu shows up to give Homer his nuclear plant security badge at the Kwik-E-Mart, and tells Homer to be more careful as terrorists out there would pay a lot of money for the nuclear secrets he supposedly possesses. Bart overhears the conversation and gets an idea. He ships out multiple letters to various countries stating he'll give them nuclear secrets in exchange for the motorbike. Some time later, Bart is chased and captured by men in a CIA truck, but they actually work for Chinese Intelligence in America. They task Bart with downloading the secrets onto a flash drive, and the bike will be his. To get the secrets, though, Bart has to get closer with Homer, so he ends up spending much more time with Homer, who is okay with this as it sets off an 80s-style montage. Eventually, Homer does take Bart to the nuclear plant, where Bart is able to find computers to download secrets from. That night, Bart sneaks into the zoo and in a pile of bushes finds his motorbike. Bart grabs it and puts in its place an envelope containing the flash drive for the Chinese to pick up later. Bart is feeling pretty good, though, as he has his motorbike at last.
The next morning, Bart is shocked to find a second motorbike in the kitchen, as Homer bought it as a reward for all the time the two have been spending together. Realizing he just became an American traitor for no reason, Bart hurries back to the zoo, his panic causing suspicion from Homer. Bart sees that the envelope is still there, but before he can leave, the Chinese arrive to retrieve the data. Bart swallows the drive, but as the Chinese advance on him, Homer arrives to save Bart, stating that his head contains all the nuclear secrets they ever need. The Chinese agree, and take Homer to China to have him help build a nuclear plant of their own. It then explodes during the ribbon cutting. Homer is somehow allowed to go home, where he and Bart decide to spend some time together the old fashioned way: watching television.
Quick Review
This ends up being a pretty good episode, the best one so far this season. Things get kinda screwy once the Chinese get involved, but for the most part, the call backs to 80s sitcoms, and the references to cast difficulties from said sitcoms, really make the episode, and it also features the best Itchy & Scratchy cartoon I've seen in some time.
Final Score: 7.8
No comments:
Post a Comment